The present invention relates to a charging system for a battery installed in a vehicle and a vehicle and a charge controller for the charging system.
The present invention relates to a charging system for a battery installed in a vehicle.
A charging system for a vehicle battery is known which uses a commercial power supply available in a general house. A charging system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-61432, according to which an electronic control unit (ECU) is installed in a vehicle for controlling the vehicle battery charging. When charging a vehicle battery, a charging connector of the vehicle is connected to an outdoor outlet of a house through a charging cable. An identification (ID) box is installed in the house for authentication through communication with the ECU when charging the vehicle battery. If the authentication is established between the ID box and the ECU, charging is allowed. This helps to prevent vehicle theft effectively.
Another charging system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No 8-111909 has a charging device for charging a battery for an electric vehicle and a control unit controlling the charging device in accordance with the charge condition of the vehicle battery. The control unit has a charge time calculator determining the battery charge time based on the charge condition of the vehicle battery, a charge start time calculator determining the charge start time based on the battery charge completion time and the charge time, and a battery charge actuator for starting battery charging at the calculated charge start time.
According to the charging system disclosed in the above Publication No. 2008-61432, the charging cable is connected before the start of charging. Thus, battery charging cannot be started while the user of the vehicle is absent. In other words, the battery charging may not be performed at the user's desired time.
According to the charging system disclosed in the above Publication No. 8-111909, the above-described step of charging is performed by the control unit installed in the vehicle. If various settings for charging could be done in the house, user-friendliness may be improved. However, it is not preferable to add devices for communication between the house and the vehicle.
The present invention is directed to providing a charging system using a commercial power supply of a general house and making possible battery charging at any time desired by the user of the vehicle.